Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde defends changes after Celta Vigo draw
Tuesday 17 April 2018 23:42, UK
Ernesto Valverde defended his decision to rotate the team against Celta Vigo, where Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw and had Sergi Roberto sent off.
With one eye on Saturday's Copa del Rey final against Sevilla - live on Sky Sports Mix - Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez started on the bench while Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta were rested.
Ousmane Dembele fired Barca ahead with his first La Liga goal before defender Jonny Castro Otto equalised on the stroke of half-time. Paulinho put the visitors ahead again just after the hour, by which time Messi had been introduced.
However, substitute Roberto, not long on himself, saw red on 71 minutes for pulling down Iago Aspas, who made it 2-2 with eight minutes left via a somewhat fortunate deflection which looked to have gone in off his arm.
Barca held out to extend their unbeaten run to 40 matches and move 12 points ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand.
Valverde, though, offered no excuse for his team selection at Estadio Balaidos, telling Marca: "The other time we came here, in the Copa, we also made many changes.
"This time, considering where we came from and that we now have a final, I wanted to make changes."
Despite now being just two more victories from the championship, barring any unexpected defeats from their rivals, Valverde remains cautious.
Live Copa Del Rey Final
"We don't take it for granted because we always think about winning, but we have to settle for what we have," the Barca coach added. "I thought that we were the better side, then came the red card and we had to change things.
"Afterwards, we didn't have the capacity to form an attack that would have pushed them back completely, and thus the equaliser came.
"It is one more point and now we need two victories to be champions. We would like to get them, but we'll see."
